


Succor

by lea_hazel



Series: The Grey Warden's Guide [6]
Category: Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Angst, Community: fic_promptly, Duty, F/F, Romance, Separations, Val Royeaux
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-26
Updated: 2014-02-26
Packaged: 2018-01-14 07:14:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1257589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lea_hazel/pseuds/lea_hazel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-canon. Natia and Leliana's final separation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Succor

**Author's Note:**

> For the prompt, "inner peace".

They parted ways in Val Royeaux. Natia had not expected things to stay as they had been. She knew that they could not stay together forever, traveling wherever they pleased and owing no account to anyone. A few good years with someone she loved, it was far more than she had ever expected for herself. Eventually her duties to the Grey Wardens would take her away, or else she'd be forced to follow the song of the sleeping that was growing steadily louder in her mind. And Leliana... 

Leliana had her own obligations, as she was now discovering. 

"I do not know how she found me, or how she knew where to send the letter," said Leliana, her head bent over the saddlebags she was packing. "All I know, is--" 

"--I know," said Natia. "You have to go where she sends you. Why didn't you tell me sooner?" 

"I had not yet decided," said Leliana. "I wasn't certain what I should do. Do you remember what you told me that day in Denerim?" 

Natia frowned. "What day?" 

Leliana sat back on her heels and looked up at her. "It was the day we went looking for Marjolaine. Perhaps you don't remember it, but it meant a great deal to me at the time. It still does." 

"You are a good person, Lel," said Natia. "I believed that when I met you, and I still do now." 

"You are very kind," said Leliana, smiling sadly. "I thought about what you'd said when I first returned to Val Royeaux, after the Battle of Denerim. That I was nothing like her. It was such a kind thing for you to say, and you had placed so much trust in me, but I didn't know if I was worthy of that trust." 

Natia put a hand on her arm. "We all do things we wish we didn't have to do," she said. "I killed a lot of people, and it twisted me up inside, but I don't regret it. Not so long as I'm alive and they're dead. You did what you had to." 

"I don't feel well about it," said Leliana. "The only place where I have ever felt at peace..." 

"The Chantry in Lothering," said Natia. "I remember." 

"Then you must understand," said Leliana, "that I am forever in her debt. Without her consolation, her assurance, I would never have found my place as a lay sister. If I can see my purpose now, with clarity, and come to terms with it, it is only because she set me on this path. I must go to her." 

"Lel," said Natia, frowning. "Are you sure this is what you want?" 

She nodded solemnly. "I have finally found a way to reconcile two parts at me that I never thought could live in harmony. This is where I belong." 

She sighed. "Then I'm happy for you." 

Leliana's face softened into a relieved smile. "I knew you of all people would understand." 

"Best get your packing done," said Natia hoarsely. "I'll be at the taproom." 

"We will meet again, my dear," said Leliana, "in some place or time. I know it."


End file.
